Cafardo’s Latest: Zumaya, Carlos Lee, Oswalt

At least three teams are "pushing hard" for Joel Zumaya, says Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. According to Cafardo, 50 scouts from 20 teams were in attendance for Zumaya's December workout, and the Red Sox and Padres are among the clubs who are very interested in the right-hander. Here are a few more items of interest from Cafardo's Sunday Baseball Notes:

An Astros source confirmed to Cafardo that the club has received a few inquires on Carlos Lee, as we heard earlier this week. The Rays briefly discussed a deal, but even half of Lee's $18.5MM salary figures to be too pricey for Tampa Bay.

A long-term extension doesn't look likely for Jacoby Ellsbury this week, but he and the Red Sox should avoid arbitration on a one-year deal before Tuesday's deadline.

Based on Hiroki Kuroda's deal with the Yankees, an NL GM thinks Roy Oswalt could be had for about $9MM for one year. There were rumblings this week suggesting Oswalt's current asking price may be even lower.

An NL scout on Edwin Jackson and his likely cost: "For that kind of money, you need more consistency out of him. I guess there's a lack of trust in that consistency. He's a great athlete, but he doesn't have a great feel for pitching. To me, he's still a complementary piece."

Ryan Spilborghs and Chad Qualls are two free agents to keep in mind for the Red Sox, says Cafardo. The Sox have "always liked" Spilborghs, who was non-tendered by the Rockies last month, and Qualls "has been on Boston's radar all offseason."

Not really. The Tigers are a great team. The Indians have improved, and the Royals are up and coming. Only the White Sox and the Twins are bad teams. I know you’re a Twins fan, but they have a 1% chance of competing. If they win more than 80 games that’s a miracle.

Not really. What about the M’s a couple years ago? Or even the Tigers in 2008? Granderson was hurt for a while, but that’s not why we lost. We had a payroll over $130MM and came in last. Foolish money doesn’t buy wins.

How are the Twins going to be a worse team this season? Willingham is about the same as Cuddyer, and Mauer and Morneau will be playing more this season, I’m assuming.

Unless I’m missing something, they will be much better. Why not take a chance with Oswalt? If the Twins don’t compete, you trade him for some help in the farm system. Also, he could be a helpful guy to have around the Twins’ pitching staff. I don’t see a problem with the Twins looking into signing Oswalt – in fact, it makes sense to me.

Positional value or not, you just proved the other guy’s point, lol. Twins are a last place team. Morneau’s career is over, Mauer will probably never be the same. Willingham is good, but I’d rather have Kubel anyday. They have no pitching and no bullpen.

1. Dounmit had 236 plate appearances last season. If he had a regular sample size, the new group would easily be better.

2. The question at hand is whether or not the Twins are better or worse than last season. I don’t think you need me to make this inference for you; I think you’re intentionally being thickheaded. Joe Mauer returning to the lineup easily pushes them above their win total from last season. What kind of place is this that I have to make inferences like this for people?

Really? The fact that he is 2000 plate appearances into his major league career, and has been solidly above average isn’t a good reason to speculate that a full season would improve his WAR? Come on, man. Also, I’m not the one who, knowing Joe Mauer would be returning to the lineup, suggested that the Twins would be a worse team. You’re a funny dude.

The Twins get the second overall draft choice, they have acquired Terry Doyle, they have a healthy Joe Mauer, they have a progressing Morneau, they improved with Ben Revere over Delmon Young defensively and perhaps offensively, they moved Duensing back to the pen where he has been very good, they have Carrol over Nishioka, they have Doumit over Butera, they have Denard Span back hopefully healthy, they have signed low risk, high reward bullpen arms, shall I continue?

The draft pick and Doyle are irrelevant to the MLB team improving. Mauer will not stay healthy if catching. Ben Revere is a good one. Don’t be so happy about Jamey Carrol being your starting short stop. Doumit won’t be catching but playing in the outfield or DHing. Morneau has done nothing to show me that he is back. Willingham is not as good as Cuddyer. So yes, if want a chance to win this argument, you should continue.

Doyle an the potential draft pick could very likely end up impacting the Twins in 2012. Doumit will be catching quite a few games, and Mauer insists that he is for once very healthy. He usually doesn’t break his silence, so for him to say that it means something. Morneau is further in his rehabilitation than he was prior to last season. Willingham is better than Cuddyer offensively. They are both below average dedenders, but Cuddyer can play more positions. They are very similar and you cannot pick one over the other in my opinion. Jason Marquis is solid improvement over Duensing in the rotation. The Twins bullpen is very much improved since last season, which was one of the main problems. There is no argument here. The Twins are better now than they were last year!

The draft pick will help our minor leagues, which are struggling. I’m glad you pointed out the players WARS, since .3 wins is going to dramatically affect the Twins next season. Cuddyer and Kubel were overpriced this offseason, and the draft picks will be nice. Jason Marquis isn’t injury prone either. Breaking your leg from a line drive is a freak injury. Before that he has been a very durable hurler. He’s only on a one year deal anyway, if injuries become a huge factor.

Jackson looks like the odd man out in this year’s free agency. He won’t get more than a 3 year contract. I still think it was a big mistake not building a retractable dome in the Twin cities. The hitters don’t hit the ball as far in the cold weather. Compare the stats in the old dome.

Of course they won’t do it, but I think that signing Oswalt to a one year deal for 8-9 million would be a good move for the Indians. They have starting pitching depth, but Oswalt would truly legitimize their rotation: Jimenez, Oswalt, Masterson, Tomlin, and then Carmona, Lowe, Huff, Gomez, McAllister to fight it out for the fifth spot. Additionally, this signing would allow the Indians to trade from their SP depth and bullpen depth for a serviceable right handed 1B. If Oswalt is doing well come AllStar break and the Indians are not, they can unload Oswalt, Jimenez, Sizemore etc for prospects, but saying you’re going all in by trading your future for Jimenez means you should actually go all in.

Ther are plenty of teams that would likely sign him at 1yr/$8-10MM. That doesn’t make any of them a fit though. He’s looking to impress this year in order to obtain a bigger deal next off season. Although it’s not vital, pitching for a contender would be a high criteria in that case. Then also, pitching in something other than a launching pad (like Chase Field) would also help.

Unfortunately the sort of team/ballpark/opportunity combination that he is looking for isn’t really out there AND in actual NEED of another starter. The Yankees signing Kuroda took them out of the mix, so now Oswalt’s potential suitors has dropped by one.

My guess is he will need to pick taking the money OR the team he plays with, but won’t be able to pick both. I still see him signing with a contender. If he performs up to par, he’ll get paid quite well come 2013.

i think zumaya needs to go to a low pressure situation and play in a pitcher friendly ballpark like the mariners, padres, or mets. with all 3 teams, he could become a back of the bullpen guy if he is healthy and all play in pitcher friendly parks that can help him get a nice contract next year if he can prove to be healthy.

carlos lee in an american league team doing dh will do alot of damage. did u see his numbers while in a well below mediocre Astros lineup? i think he had 90+rbis. he is a legitimate run producing machine but the problems are his defense and speed. so a dh change can do him good, a la david ortiz.

carlos lee in an american league team doing dh will do alot of damage. did u see his numbers while in a well below mediocre Astros lineup? i think he had 90+rbis. he is a legitimate run producing machine but the problems are his defense and speed. so a dh change can do him good, a la david ortiz.

Lunhow strikes me as an intelligent fella, so I just don’t see him giving up a ton of cash to ship Lee out of town. He would become a hero here in Houston, but it’s not like there’s a logjam of talent behind him that’s waiting to get into MMP… I’m no Lee fan, but unless they get proper value in return, it’s senseless to just “dump” him if you’re still paying 50-70% of his salary…

Well, trading Lee certainly wouldn’t make the difference between winning the division or not. We’re playing for 2014—2015 at this point, so if we can turn Lee into a decent prospect, I think we should do it.

Per B-Ref, Lee has a 4.6 WAR. 2.1 (46%) came from his dWAR, which is an anomaly, considering that he is a career -4.6 dWAR player. If you factor in the age/fatness curve, he would be lucky to be a 3 WAR player in 2012. That means that he’s worth maybe a Willingham contract. Not only does he eat for two, but he also gets paid for two. If my Astros can unload him anywhere, I will be thrilled.

Um, yes it is. I’ll take Mayberry for minimum over Lee for 9 million anyday.

I think a fair price for him at this point is around 6 million. If they eat the other 12, I think a lot of teams would be interested and could actually get a decent peice back for him. Particularly an AL team so he could be used as a 1B.